Saint Louis completes the Triple Crown of chess championships
next month when it plays host to the prestigious 2010 U.S. Women's
Championship and the 2010 U.S. Junior Closed Championship, July 9-20.

Right
on the heels of the 2010 U.S. Championship, which took place in Saint
Louis last month, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis
has organized yet another unique U.S. Championship tournament
experience as it will host these two prominent events simultaneously.
Each championship will be comprised of a 10-player field and will
feature nine rounds of tournament play. Reigning U.S. Women's Champion
Anna Zatonskih and current U.S. Junior Champ Ray Robson aim to defend
their respective titles this year in Saint Louis against a strong field
of contenders.

"Encouraging more women and juniors to play
chess are both vital goals of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of
Saint Louis," said Executive Director Tony Rich. "So we are very
excited to host the tournaments simultaneously."

Grandmaster
commentary will be provided by GM Ben Finegold and WGM Jennifer Shahade. Saint Louis resident and #1-ranked US player GM Hikaru Nakamura will
also provide special commentary for two days yet to be determined.

The field for the 2010 U.S. Women's Championship is as follows:

IM Anna Zatonskih: Defending Champion

IM Irina Krush: Rating

WGM Camilla Baginskaite: Rating

WGM Sabina Foisor: Rating

WGM Katerina Rohonyan: Wildcard

WIM Alisa Melekhina: Rating

WFM Iryna Zenyuk: U.S. Women's Open Champion

WFM Abby Marshall: Rating

WFM Tatev Abrahamyan: Rating

WIM Beatriz Marinello: Rating

The field for the 2010 U.S. Junior Closed Championship is as follows:

GM Ray Robson: Defending Champion

IM Sam Shankland: Rating

FM John Bryant: Rating

FM Darwin Yang: Rating

FM Steven Zierk: Rating

FM Conrad Holt: Rating

Parker Zhao: Rating

Warren Harper: Rating

Tyler Hughes: Rating

Eric Rosen: U.S. Junior Open Champion

The
2010 U.S. Women's Championship will feature a $65,000 prize fund, the
largest prize fund in the history of the tournament. The breakdown is
as follows:

The
2010 U.S. Junior Championship will also feature a record-breaking prize
fund. The ten participants will fight for $10,300 in prizes and will
also receive a laptop computer as a part of their prize. The breakdown
is as follows:

July
16 will be the player's rest day, which will feature an all-day
celebration in honor of the two-year anniversary of the CCSCSL. The
event will feature a block party and special appearances by top-level
grandmasters and members of the professional tennis team the Saint
Louis Aces including special guests to be named.

Spectators
are encouraged to come down to the club to enjoy the commentary and
witness the action live. Games begin at 2 PM Local time (3 PM EST) each
day. Live spectators need only to purchase a club membership, which is
just $5/month for students or $12/month for adults. The live streaming
coverage of grandmaster commentary and play-by-play can be followed
online at www.uschesschamps.com.Complete Schedule of Championship Events